All posts in Digital Collections

IIIF – International Image Interoperability Framework

December 22, 2015
Photo courtesy of the Penn State University Archives.

Photo courtesy of the Penn State University Archives.

This post was written by Andrew Gearhart, Web Developer in the Libraries’ Publishing and Curation Services department.

The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) was created by a group of technical pioneers who are working to standardize the availability of images, making them accessible from multiple types of image stores to be used in variations that need not be pre-created. IIIF allows for dramatic flexibility in content delivery in multiple application contexts.

To give you an example, let’s take a digital image, scanned from a photograph in the Penn State Campus History collection, an archive of architectural renderings, documents, and aerial imagery. At upper left is a photo of Beaver Stadium showing the structure as it existed following the move from the northwest side of campus. With fewer than half of the number of seats of the current stadium, the older venue accommodated a total of 46,284 fans. It’s a great photo for folks who are interested in the history of Penn State football.  Read more…

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Penn State Froth

November 5, 2015

Froth2This post was written by Rachel A. McCaskill (née Smith). Rachel was a Diversity Resident Librarian at Penn State, 2013-2015. While at Penn State, Rachel worked with the Special Collections Library and with Digitization and Preservation at the University Libraries on digitizing Penn State Froth magazine issues and getting the collection online. She is now Learning Technologies Librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries in Richmond, VA.

The Penn State Froth, the nation’s second oldest college humor magazine, was founded in 1909 and published from 1910 to 1985.  It replaced Penn State’s first humor magazine, the Lemon, which published its final issue on June 10, 1908. The Lemon left a major void, as it seems to have been an influential part of student life on campus in the old days. For example, the Lemon covered the birth of Penn State’s Nittany Lion mascot in its publication. A. W. Fisher, editor of the State Collegian, which was a predecessor to The Daily Collegian, served as editor of the first issue of Froth.

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Uncovering Hidden Treasures

October 10, 2015
Vinegar syndrome

Vinegar syndrome

This post was written by Katelyn Dion, Digital Archives Assistant in the Special Collections Library.

Penn State Special Collections Library is home to approximately 70,000 unique audio/visual (A/V) holdings. These A/V materials focus around our major collecting areas including Penn State University history, state and local history, labor history, and rare books and manuscripts. We have 21 different types of audio formats and speeds, and 25 different formats of moving image.

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DPLAfest Then and Now – Highlights to Celebrate

June 1, 2015
DPLAfest 2015 in Indianapolis

DPLAfest 2015 in Indianapolis

This post was written by Mohamed Berray, Resident Social Sciences Librarian (2013-2015), who attended both DPLAfest 2013 and DPLAfest 2015.

In October 2013, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brought together 450 technologists, publishers, developers, librarians, museum professionals, and archivists for its first-ever DPLAfest to celebrate the successful launch of DPLA early in April that year.

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Brent Wilson Papers: 1950-2013

May 15, 2015
An item from the Brent Wilson exhibit

An item from the Brent Wilson exhibit

The Special Collections Library (104 Paterno Library) now has on display “Brent Wilson: Journals and Journeys, Too.” The exhibit runs from May 15 to September 13.

As a complement to the physical exhibit, the University Libraries has digitized Wilson’s papers. Check out the online collection, Brent Wilson Papers, 1950-2013.

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Web Archiving in Libraries and Archives (and at Penn State)

May 1, 2015
Screen shot of Penn State's partner page on Archive-It

Penn State’s Partner Page on Archive-It

This post was written by Ben Goldman, Digital Records Archivist.

In honor of Preservation Week, I wanted to provide an introductory post (what I hope will be the first of several) on web archiving. An enormous amount of cultural heritage is now published online, which presents both opportunities and challenges for archivists charged with collecting, preserving, and making accessible documentation for future generations. An entire blog post (or more) could be devoted to describing these opportunities and challenges in greater depth, but the New Yorker has already done so with an elegance I could not hope to surpass. I highly recommend spending some time with “The Cobweb,” by Jill Lepore, on newyorker.com (I even sent this article to my parents as a way of explaining what I do).

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Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: Much More than Meets the Eye

March 10, 2015

This post was written by Paige Andrew, Maps Cataloging Librarian.

A portion of sheet 1 of the 1906 Sanborn map of State College, Pennsylvania. Note the added textual information such as population of 1000 included in the title frame.

A portion of sheet 1 of the 1906 Sanborn map of State College, Pennsylvania. Note the added textual information such as population of 1000 included in the title frame.

For nearly a century and a half the maps that comprise a historic Pennsylvania collection in the Libraries, published by the Sanborn Map Company (and earlier iterations of the name), have long provided a unique, graphic, primary resource for a variety of research needs. Sanborn fire insurance maps have tracked the growth of cities and towns in the United States over time and provide an abundance of information on each community represented.

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The People’s Contest

February 5, 2015
Letter from James A Beaver Papers

Letter from James A Beaver Papers

This post was written by Sabra Statham, Digital Project Coordinator, PSUL.

As we head into winter I am once again reminded that another year at The People’s Contest has passed. In fact, this year when February rolls around it won’t just be my fifth year at the Penn State Libraries, it will be the project’s fifth year. This anniversary seems like a good time to go back and look at what we have accomplished. Few digital projects last this long so not only have we achieved that important landmark, it looks like the project is just getting going with lots of new activities planned for the future.

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Penn State’s Past in Student Yearbooks

October 20, 2014
Front Cover of La Vie in 1890.

Front Cover of La Vie in 1890.

This post was written by Linda Friend, Head, Scholarly Publishing Services.

La Vie, the Penn State University annual student yearbook, has been in production documenting student life continuously since 1890. La Vie is a student publication governed by an internal Board of Directors who manage and control the copy rights to La Vie publications.

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